Led Zeppelin to tour without Plant

Oh god. Hopes for a monsterous world tour from a reunited Led Zeppelin have sort of been squashed. Well, not completely, but bassist John Paul Jones has confirmed that the band’s upcoming shows will still go ahead, but with a new singer standing in for Robert Plant.

There was a false flurry of excitement back in September when UK trashy newspaper The Sun reported that Plant “couldn’t face the thought of not being involved” in reunion plans. Oh yeah, that's coz The Sun is just so good at reporting the correct news. Anyway, Plant swiftly replied with a statement quashing the rumours. “It’s both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward.”

Jones has now told the UK's BBC Radio, that the remainder of Led Zeppelin is rehearsing with “a couple” of replacement frontmen.

“It’s got to be right. There’s no point in just finding another Robert,” Jones told the station. “You could get that out of a tribute band, but we don’t want to be our own tribute band. There would be a record and a tour, but everyone has to be on board.”

I hope this news coming outta the UK is as incorrect as The Sun is being a reputable source of information.

www.ledzeppelin.com

Bonnaroo Festival announces Led Zeppelin?

Why don't we get festivals like these? When I see the lineups for European and US festivals every year, I realise one thing only. Australia is lucky to be on the map of the Earth.

It breaks my heart everytime I read about yet another fantastic festival lineup overseas!

Anyway, now that I got that off my chest, The Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee, USA has announced its first acts. Want to see? Take a deep breath......

Paerl Jam, Metallica, Jack Johnson, Kanye West, My Morning Jacket, The Raconteurs, Death Cab For Cutie, Sigur Ros, Ben Folds, M.I.A., Iron & Wine, Broken Social Scene, Rilo Kiley, Mastodon, Lupe Fiasco, Ozomatli, Tegan & Sara, Drive-By Truckers, Solomon Burke, !!!, Aimee Mann, Ladytron, The Fiery Furnaces, Jose Gonzalez, Donavon Frankenreiter, Battles, Two Gallants, Vampire Weekend and...........Lez Zeppelin.

Robert Plant will be in attendance, but will not be performing with Led Zeppelin. Instead, he will be playing hits of his latest album 'Raising sand' with Alison Krauss. Lez Zeppelin is actually an all-female covers band. Sorry to dissapoint you this small little bit.

Say I if you would like to be at this festival? I I I I I I I I I I I I

Led Zeppelin to headline Bonnaroo Festival

Led Zeppelin will headline a US rock festival next year.

The legendary band are set to perform at Tennessee's Bonnaroo festival in June 2008 after lead singer Robert Plant had a "change of heart" over the decision to follow up their comeback concert at London's O2 arena earlier this month with further dates.

A source said: "They are going to play the Bonnaroo festival, which runs from June 12 to 15. This news will drive their fans absolutely wild.

"They have been bombarding their website to get back together for good but only lead singer Robert Plant wasn't keen to commit. Now he's had a change of heart and if it all goes well they are also talking about touring."

It has been rumoured that 2008 will see the band - which also includes bassist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page, with late drummer John Bonham' s son Jason on drums - embark on a world tour that could net them in the region of £1 billion.

The source added to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "All ticket sellers have been told a world tour will take place, there's just some ironing out of contracts to be done. They are already talking about playing venues like Knebworth, Glastonbury and even returning to Madison Square Garden in New York where they played their legendary shows in 1973. They were looking to do it in March but now it will most likely be May. With ticket sales combined with merchandising it could make them as much as £1 billion."

Led Zeppelin reunion concert

This report came straight off the desks at NME and into my hands.

Led Zeppelin played a storming show at their first UK in 19 years at the 02 Arena in London tonight (December 10). The long-awaited performance was the headline slot at a tribute show for Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died earlier this year and was instrumental in building the band's career in the 1970s. Frontman Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones were joined by Jason Bonham on drums - son of John, the band's original drummer who died in 1980 signalling the end of the original band's 12-year career.

There had been brief reformations before - including Live Aid in 1985 - but tonight was the first full set the group had played since headlining Knebworth in 1979. An estimated nine million people applied for the 18,000 tickets, and despite the quiet sound there was mass hysteria as the band performed their classics before a crowd including Paul McCartney, Oasis' Noel and Liam Gallagher, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Lulu, Arctic Monkeys, Kate Moss and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.

The 16 - song set kicked off at 9pm GMT prompt - included classics such as opener 'Good Times Bad Times', 'Kashmir', 'Ramble On', 'Black Dog', 'Dazed And Confused', 'Whole Lotta Love' and rousing closer 'Rock And Roll', during the second of two encores. There were also a few surprises thrown in - the disco funk of 'Trampled Under Foot' from 1975's 'Physical Graffiti' made an appearance, as did 'For Your Life' from 1976's 'Presence' - the first time the band have ever performed the track live.

Plant spoke little during the show, but when he did it was mostly to pay tribute to Ertegun, who he said after first encore 'Whole Lotta Love' "ran the best label in the world" in Atlantic Records. After playing classic 'Stairway To Heaven' the singer exclaimed: "Ahmet, we did it!" He also said before 'For Your Life' - "The past few weeks have been full of a thousand emotions for Ahmet, for bringing Jason (Bonham) in." He also individually introduced each other member of the band during the course of the two-hour performance. The four-piece, dressed almost entirely in black except for Page's white shirt, played in front of a massive video screen which featured straight shots of the band at first, but then exploded into psychedelic colours for 'Kashmir', the best received song of the evening. Before that track, Plant delcared: "There are people from 50 countries here. This is the 51st."

Led Zeppelin played:

'Good Times Bad Times'

'Ramble On''Black Dog'

'In My Time Of Dying'

'For Your Life'

'Trampled Under Foot'

'Nobody's Fault But Mine'

'No Quarter''Since I've Been Loving You'

'Dazed And Confused'

'Stairway To Heaven'

'The Song Remains The Same'

'Misty Mountain Hop'

'Kashmir'

'Whole Lotta Love'

'Rock And Roll'

Led Zeppelin 2008 tour

Led Zeppelin will tour in 2008, according to Ian Astbury, frontman of The Cult.

Apparently The Cult will be supporting Led Zepplin on their tour next year. According to Billboard, during a recent gig in Cincinnati, Astbury said "We'll be back next year, becuase we're opening for a band you may have heard of. The name starts with 'L' and has a 'Z' in it." A fan in the audience shouted "Led Zeppelin" and Astbury nodded his head and raised a fist in the air. Led Zeppelin are yet to announce an official tour.

In the meantime, to mark their reunion, Led Zeppelin recently released a new compilation, 'Mothership', which contains all the classics that every fan will be happy with.